Organic ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide reaction products and method for producing the same



Patented Oct. 6, 1953 UNITED STATE TENT OFFICE David .E. Adelson,

Shell Development Company,

Berkeley, Calif., assignor to San Francisco,

Calif., a corporation of Delaware N Drawing. Application August 1,1949, Serial No. 108,066

.12 Claims. (Cl. 260-125 Thisinvention relates .to the provision ofnovel compounds which are reaction products of an organic material with an ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide reactant, as well as to the method by which said compounds are produced. These novel compounds are valuable lubricant additives, as disclosed in copending application Serial No. 718,617, filed December 26, 1946, now U. S. Patent No. 2,512,784, issued June 27, 1950, of which this application is a continuation-inpart, and many of them form useful rubber additives, as disclosed in copending application Serial No. 51,116, filed September 24, 1948, now U. 5. Patent No. 2,564,404, issued August 14, 1951.

In general, the compounds of the present invention are of a viscous oily nature, though some are solids, and they vary in .color from light yellow to orange and dark brown. Their sulfur content is from about 0.4 to 25%, though containing no freesulfur. The compounds are substantially free of nitrogen introduced by way'of reaction with the ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide reactant, any nitrogen found in said compounds (usually between 0.05 and 0.2%) being considered as attributable to impurities.

The ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide reactant referred to herein comprises the material which is preferably formed by firstsaturating a suitable solvent liquid with anhydrous ammonia and then saturating the resulting solution with hydrogen sulfide. In any event, even when the solution is not saturated with respect to one or both of the reactants, the hydrogen sulfide .is always present in excess over the amount requiredto convert all the ammonium hydrosulfide.

As will'be considered in greater detail in subsequent'portions of the description, the organic material reacted with the ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide may be selected from a wide variety of compounds, though a preferred class of organic reactants for this purpose comprises the *olefinic'ally unsaturated hydrocarbons and alcohols, together with olefinically unsaturated acids, esters, ketones and other compounds containing a carbonyl group. Particularly valuable organic reactant compounds are the unsaturated fatty acid esters (including the natural oils, waxes and fats made up in major portion of said esters) as well as the higher unsaturated ketOnes containing 12 or more carbon atoms.

Whatever the nature of the organic reactant, it is JaLfeature of the present invention to provide the novel compositions thereof byforming a solution containing the organic reactant and the amammonia present to monium hydrosulfide-hydrogen .sulfide compo nent and allowing this solution to react at room or other temperature not higher than about .C. for aperiod of at least several hours, it being .noted that while the reaction progresses well at room temperature, it is greatly accelerated by heating. Thus, when the reaction is allowed to proceed at room temperatures it normally is completed in a period of from about 2 or *3 daysto a month, though by heating at temperatures of from about 40 to 100 C. the reaction is inmany cases brought to completion in from about 5 to 24 hours. At the end of the reaction period, the desired product is that which remains after removing the solvent and any remaining ammonia and hydrogensulfide. In the preferred practice of the invention,-anhydrous ammoniais first introducedinto a-suitable solvent such as ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, isobutanol; glycol; dioxane orthe like until thesolution is substantially saturated after which the solution is saturated with dry hydrogen sulfide, thereby forming ammonium hydrosulfideandproviding an excess of hydrogen sulfide. Theorganic reactant may then be added to-this solution in either its natural state or as the solute portion in the same or a dilferent solvent from that employed with the ammoniaand hydrogen sulfide. However formed, the resulting solution preferably is then again saturated with hydrogen sulfide, and wherever possible, an atmosphere of hydrogen sulfide is maintainedover the solution duringthe reaction period.

The :relative proportions of .hydrogen sulfide, ammonia (or ammonium *hydrosulfide) and organic reactant to be employed .may be varied within relatively wide limits. However, the reactant solution preferably'contains from about 0.2to 5 moles hydrogen sulfideand-at least 0.2 moles ammonia for each mole of organic reactant, there preferably being present an excess of at least about 10% of hydrogen sulfide over and'above that necessary to convert theammonia into ammonium hydrosulfide.

The organic material to be reacted with the ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide complex may be selected-from'a wide variety of compounds. Howevena-preferred group of organic reactants comprises the aliphatic and the alicyclic, olefinically unsaturated, carbonylzgroupcontaining compounds, including carboxylic acids, esters, salts, aldehydes, ketones and the variousnatural oils, 'fatsrandwaxes made up in majorportion of said compounds, as well as the olefinically unsaturated alcohols 'and hydrocarbons which are oxidizable to form said carbonyl group-containing compounds. The term olefinically unsaturated is employed herein to designate those compounds having a double bond between at least one pair of adjacent carbon atoms of aliphatic character. Representative organic reactants which come within this preferred class are ethyl oleate, ethyl undecylenate, methyl ricinoleate, cottonseed oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, dehydrated castor oil, tall oil, the wax olefins, oleic acid, ammonium oleate, potassium oleate, ammonium undecylenate, mesityl oxide, isophorone, isophorone bottoms (the production and identification of which will be more fully described below), and the like. Also included within the foregoing preferred group of organic reactant compounds are those compounds such as stilbene, cinnamyl alcohol, ethyl cinnamate, cinnamaldehyde and the like, wherein One or more hydrogen atoms on the carbon atoms of the olefinically unsaturated compound are replaced by aryl groups.

A more preferred class of organic reactants comprises the unsaturated fatty acid esters and the natural oils, fats and waxes made up in major proportion of said esters. Compounds coming within this more preferred group are, for example, ethyl oleate, methyl oleate, ethyl undecylenate, methyl ricinoleate, ethyl linoleate and ethyl erucate, as well as such natural products as linseed oil, cottonseed oil, tung oil, animal fats, vegetable fats and tall oil.

Another more preferred class of organic reactants for use in the present invention comprises those aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, olefinically unsaturated ketones which contain at least 12. and preferably 15 or more, carbon atoms in the molecule. Such ketones are of the type obtained from the catalytic condensation of acetone either with itself or with compounds con'densable therewith to form higher ketones. examples of the latter being the lower alcohols such as isonropyl, isobutyl and isoamyl alcohols. Thus, representative hi her ketones may be prepared bv condensing acetone in the presence of strong (30 to 60%) caustic at temperatures ranging from about 130 to 170 C. and at pressures of from 300 to 500 p. s. i., for exam le. Under favorable circumstances this condensation is productive, in the main, of isophorone, thou h at the same time various C12 and higher unsaturated ketones are produced which remain as bottoms after the isonhorone and the other lower boiling constituents have been distilled off. Such bottoms, termed crude iso horone bottoms, may either be used as such in the formation of the ammonium hydrosulfide-hydro en sulfide reaction products hereinafter described. or thev mav be fractionallv distilled into various components which maybe used individually or in combination. The C12 fraction (C12IIl80) boils within the ran e of ap roximately 112 C. to 123 C. (mm. H a mixture of C12 and C15 (Ciel-I210) ketones boils from about 123 C. to about 142 C. (10 mm, Hg) whereas the C15 ketones themselves boil within the range of about 140 C. to 175 C. (10 mm. Hg). A preferred mixture of unsaturated ketones, termed topped, crude, isophorone bottoms is that which remains in the still when crude isophorone bottoms are distilled until a still head temperature of approximately 140 C. (10 mm. Hg) is reached, the residue comprising, in the main, C15 and higher unsaturated ketones. Isophorone bottoms may also be subjected to hydrolysis with dilute caustic after which the bottoms are separated from the acetone and isophorone formed during the hydrolysis step. The bottoms, which can then be filtered or otherwise purified, may be reacted as such with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide, or they may first be fractionated in the manner described above and then reacted. As was the case with the crude bottoms, a preferred mixture of ketones is that remaining on distilling off the components of the hydrolyzed mixture which boil below 140 C. (10 mm. Hg). This residue is referred to herein as topped, crude, hy-

' drolyzed, isophorone bottoms and is generally ditions of the similar to topped, crude, isophorone bottoms, it being essentially made up of unsaturated alicyclic ketones having at least 15 carbon atoms in the molecule.

The term isophorone bottoms, as employed herein, is intended to include all unsaturated alicyclic ketones produced according to the conforegoing paragraph which contain at least 12 carbon atoms in the molecule, whether topped or untopped, and whether hydrolyzed or unhydroiyzed, and which in general have the structural configuration of isophorone or a condensation product thereof.

Other alicyclic unsaturated ketones containing 12 or more carbon atoms and having a structure similar to that of the ketones comprising the isophorone bottoms, whether hydrolyzed or not, are prepared by the alkaline condensation of mesityl oxide. The latter compound (which may be prepared by condensing acetone into diacetone alcohol in the presence of soda lime and thereafter subjecting the alcohol to acid catalyzed dehydration) condenses in the presence of strong (e. g., 30 to caustic and at elevated temperatures and pressures to form, in the main, 012C180, CLSCZSO and higher molecular ketone units. The desired C12 and higher ketones may be obtained from the mesityl oxide condensation product by topping the same (i. e., distilling on the lower boiling fractions) until a still head temperature of about 96 C. (4 mm. Hg) is reached. The residue (bottoms in the still) may then be used as such or it may be still further topped to a still head temperature of C. (4 mm. Hg) at which point the main portion of the C18 ketones begins to distill. The distillation may be carried still further, if desired, though a preferred practice is to employ the residue containing the C18 and higher ketones for reaction with a sulfide to form the rubber additives or this invention.

All the higher ketones described above, whether of the isophorone bottom or the mesityl oxide condensate type, are alicyclic, olefinically unsaturated compounds which are well adapted to react with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide to form the products of this invention. Such products are viscous, yellow to brown-colored masses containing from about 3 to 10% sulfur and substantially no nitrogen (i. e., less than about 0.2 to 0.3%).

The reaction products formed from higher ketones and ammonium hy-drosulfide-hydrogen sulfide difier widely in both chemical and physical properties from compounds of the thioketone variety.

The following examples illustrate the present invention in various of its embodiments.

Example I Isopropyl alcohol (700 cc.), at room temperature and contained in a thick-walled suction flask, was first saturated with dry ammonia and then with dry hydrogen sulfide. To this solution was added a solution :oii2-3Bi5 granrs an tomic mizude isophorone bottoms (crude isophorone fhottoms topped to-afstillfhea-d temperature (of no G. at mm. Hg) in 350 ccxrcf isopropyhalcoholyarter which the resulting soIut-i'onwa's again saturated with dry hydrogen sulfide. The flask was then closed, the air thercin being displaced "with hydrogen sulfide, and allowed to stan-d ifor fone week with infrequent shaking. uponropening the flask *a partial vacuum "was discovered. "The reaction 'with'water. After removal or the hydrocarbon tz'o solvent in a current-of nitrogen gas ona steam bath, there was obtained a highly viscous, isticiey mass which exhibited much less "flow at room temperature than "did'the starting mixture. "The product, which was oil-soluble, possessed-a pleasant odor suggestive of crude molasses. O-n an'al- 'ys'is, the product was'foundto contain 7.2% sulfur, 76.2% carbon-956% hydrogen, 0.26% nitrogen and the balance, oxygen. Its molecular weight was 352. g

In other operations-conducted under the same conditions as indicated in the preceding paragraph but using topped, crude isophorone-bottoms from other batches, products were obtained whose sulfur content varied from about 5% to 8.3%.

In other respects these productswere very similar to that describedin the-preceding paragraph. Example-II This operation was conducted "under "the-same general conditions as described in Example I except'that here the quantity of higher ke'tene added was 243.5 grams and'the reaction period was increased from 1 week to *1 month. The resulting product contained 8.3% su1fur, '-76H carbon, 9.6% hydrogen, 0.2% nitrogen and 5.9% oxygen, and had a molecular weight-of 360.

Example III An unsaturated 'alicyclic ketone 2605 grams") derived from the alkalinecondensaition of mesityil oxide and containing 18=ormorecarbon atoms in the molecule, was reacted with ammonium *hydrosulfide -hydrcgen sulfide under conditions similar to those described in Example'I, while 'a companion operation was also conducted with respect to 258 grams of alike ketone fraction following saturation thereof by ah-ydrogenation treatment. The sulfide reaction product 'in the case of iinsaturated ketone was found to "contain 3.87% sulfur and 0.09% nitrogen whereas the product obtained using the saturated .ketone contained 6.1% sulfur and 0.1% nitrogen.

Example IV In the foregoing examples, the "reaction was conducted at room temperatures. However, if desired, the reaction interval may "be greatly'reduced by retainingthe'rea'ctants at=elevatedtemperatures, e. g. those above 75 C., and at either atmospheric, superatmospheric or subatmospheric pressures. Thus, a solution of 295 grams of topped, crude isophorone bottoms in 1315 cc. isoprolJyl alcohol, containing ammonium hydrosulfide and saturated with hydrogen sulfide, was

placed in an autocmvemndera hydrogen sulfide atmosphere and there maintained at a temperaturebetweenet and 101.5 "C.'fo'r a'period of'5 hours. At'the :end of this "period, the reaction mixture was removedand the product recovered in the manner described in "Example I. The product was -founcrto contain 6.2% sulfur, 177.2% carbon, 9.6% hydrogen, '0l'3% nitrogen and 6.5% oxygen, its molecular weight being determined M356.

, .Emmple .V I

Puie isophorone (1 1 '13 -"trimethylcyclohexene- -3-one-ii) was the reactant selected Ior useintliis example. In :canying out "the reaction, '700 cc. of isopropyl alcohol were saturated a't -room temperatures first with-anhydrousammonia and then with hydrogen sulfide, and to the resulting solutionwere'added 138-gramsofisophorone in350 cc. of =isopropy1 alcohol, after which the solution was again saturated with driedhydrogen-sul'flde. The solutfon' was placed. in an "enclosed reactionbom'b formation where it was displaced by hydrogen sulfide and the mixture was allowed to react therein for a period of one week with occasional shaking. The desired reaction product, which was present solution in isopropyl alcohol, was then recovered therefrom by distilling off the alcohol, leaving a viscous mass which was purified through solution in ta hydrocarbon solvent and water washingjas described'inExample I. There were finally obtained 89.3 grams of a viscous, dark brown liquid containing 26.4% sulfur, 63.5% carbon, 8.9% hydrogen, 0.9% oxygen and 0.2% nitrogen.

Ewample vl I Using'the 's'ameiprocedure as outlined above in Example 1,5316 grams of ethyl o'leate were reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide to give 51.5 grams of' product containing 4% sulfur and 01% nitro'gen a'nd having the appearance of an aniber-coloredcil, the refractive index n 20/13 of theo'il being 1.4640.

, E'mampZeVII oxide (147 grams) was reacted with ammoniumThydrosulfide'hydrogen sulfide according to the conditions of :Example I, there being produced 114.3 grams of a viscous, dark brown liquid containing 15.8% sulfur, as the product.

Example VIII Example .IX

stilbene (18 grams) was reacted with ammo nium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide according to the "method of Example I, there being obtained 17 grams of a product similar to stilbene in appearance, and which contained 0.71% sulfur.

Example X Ole'i-c acid (274 grams) was reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide according to the method of Example I. The resulting product,

which weighed 265.4 grams and had the appearance of a viscous oil, contained 0.4% sulfur.

'recoverd, as product, 199.1

Example XII Ethyl undecy1enate.( 212 grams) was reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide according to the method of Example I, there being grams of an ambercolored oil having a refractive index n 20/D of 1.4393 and containing 0.9% sulfur. j I

Erample XIII I Ethyl cinnamate (200 grams) Was reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide accordingto the method of Example I. There were obtained 233.6 grams of a viscous, dark brown, liquid product containin sulfur and having a refractive index n 20/D of 1.5493. v

Example XIV I Cottonseed oil (250 grams) was reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide according to the method of Example I. There were produced 187.7 grams of a viscous oil containing 0.9%

sulfur, said oil having a refractive index n 20/D of 1.4715.

' Ewample XV Rapeseed oil (250 grams) was reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide according to the method of Example I. There were produced 239.7 grams of a viscous oil containing 0.48% sulfur and having a refractive index of Example XVI Tall oil (250 grams) comprising a mixture of higher fatty oils and rosin acids and having an initial sulfur content of 0.15%, was reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide according to the method of Example I. There were produced 269.7 grams of a dark brown, viscous oil having a refractive index n 20/D of 1.4980 and sulfur.

Example XVII Cinnamyl alcohol (2G0 grains) was reacted with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide according to the method of Example 1 whereby there were formed 177.9 grams of a yellow-brown, crystalline solid product. This produce contained 2.76% sulfur and 0.1% nitrogen.

Example XVIII containing 0.68%

drosulfide-hydrogen sulfide at a temperature be- -low about C.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein said organic-material is a compound selected'from the group consisting of olefinically unsaturated hydrocarbons, olefinically unsaturated alcohols and. olefinically unsaturated compounds containing a carbonyl group. 1

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said organic material contains at least 50 by weight of an unsaturated fatty acid ester. v 1

4. The composition of claim 1 wherein said organic material is an olefinically unsaturated higher ketone containing at least 12 carbon atoms in themolecule. g

5. The composition of claim 1 wherein said organic material is comprised of isophorone bottoms.-

6. The method comprising treating an olefinically unsaturated organic material with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide at a temperature below about 10L C.

7. The method comprising reacting in a solvent an olefinically unsaturated organic material with ammonium hydrosulfide-hydrogen sulfide at a temperature between about room term perature and C. for a period ranging from about 5 hours to over one month.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said organic material is selected from the group consisting of olefinically unsaturated hydrocarbons, olefinically unsaturated alcohols and olefinically unsaturated compounds containing a carbonyl group.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein said organic material contains at least 50% by weight of an unsaturated fatty acid ester. v

10. The method of claim 7 wherein said organic material is an olefinically unsaturated higher ketone containing at least 12 carbon atoms in the molecule. I I

v 11. The method of claim 7 wherein said organic materialis comprised of isophorone bottoms.

12. The method comprising saturating a solvent first with anhydrous ammonia .and then References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,487,840 Van Ess Nov. 15, 1949 2,489,249 Adelson Nov. 29, 1949 2,551,579 Berl May 8, 1951 OTHER REFERENCES 

1. A NOVEL COMPOSITION OF MATTER COMPRISING A PRODUCT OBTAINED BY REACTING AN OLEFINICALLY UNSATURATED ORGANIC MATERIAL WITH AMMONIUM HYDROSULFIDE-HYDROGEN SULFIDE AT A TEMPERATURE BELOW ABOUT 100* C. 